§ THE EARL OF HARDWICKEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether it was intended to abolish the rank of Masters in the Royal Navy?
§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, it was the intention of the Admiralty to do so; hut the mode in which it should be done would be so as to effect in the least possible degree the interests of the class of masters, who numbered from 700 to 800 persons. Their interests would be very carefully scoured. The only step taken by the Admiralty at present was that they had stopped the entry of that class of cadets from whom the masters were taken. The most convenient course for putting the House in possession of the intentions of the Admiralty would be to lay the proposed scheme on the table as soon as possible, and that would give the noble Earl an opportunity of bringing the question before the House.
§ THE EARL OF HARDWICKEsaid, that in all probability when that time came it would be too late to do anything, or to change in any way the intentions of the Admiralty. It was well known that the Admiralty had power to make such changes in the navy, either of themselves or by Orders in Council; there was no need that the subject should come before Parliament, and therefore the only way to call attention to it was by Question. The step now contemplated appeared to him one of the 385 most extraordinary that had ever been taken in the details of the service. The masters were most ancient and important officers. In olden times, before the navy was fashioned as it was now, those officers were the masters of merchant ships and of the ships belonging to the Cinque Ports, which the King took up, and on hoard of which he placed his troops, for the purpose of defending the country or attacking the enemy's ships or shores. He had seen a list of the time of Henry V., in which were shown the names of the masters who were thus taken into the King's service. Theirs, therefore, was a very ancient office—as ancient as that of the captains of ships. In process of time, however, the navy was placed under the system which now existed, the masters became subsidiary to the captains, but they still discharged all the duties which belonged to their office in ancient days; they navigated the ship, looked to its rigging and storage, and were responsible to the Government for the stores placed on board. They were, more over, the ship's pilots. They were educated as pilots of ships in all the narrow waters on the coasts of the United Kingdom and in the German Ocean. It took a life to become a perfect pilot on these extensive coasts, and in all the inlets and harbours contained within the compass of the shores of Great Britain and Ireland. He deplored extremely the resolution which had been taken to abolish the office; and then, after all, its abolition must be compensated by the substitution of some other, for assuredly the navigation of our ships must be carried on by men whose whole mind was devoted solely to that important branch of the ser vice. It was perfectly true that all the officers of a ship were brought up as navigators; but it was constant practice which made the master so superior to the lieutenant, because the lieutenant's executive duties, with which the master had nothing to do, would not admit of his giving up his mind to the observation of the chronometer and the heavenly bodies. Therefore, in abolishing the master's office they must find some other man to put in his place; and they must either select lieu tenants who were to be taught the duties, to the injury of the duties they at present discharged, or else they must create a second class of lieutenants. He doubted whether the duties of master were compatible with the executive duties of lieu tenants. Moreover, if the officer who 386 hereafter discharged the duties of master had the rank of lieutenant they would necessarily expect to rise to that of captain and admiral. Under these circumstances the proposal of the Admiralty seemed to him to be a great mistake. They were going to abolish the rank of master, of second master, and assistant master; but they must have qualified officers to fill their places. Those officers would naturally desire to assume all the authority of the executive, while their minds would be distracted by the charge of stores, the management of the rigging, and the other duties which now fell to the lot of the master. If they effected this change the Admiralty would have two descriptions of lieutenants, brought up in two branches of the service; and when a lieutenant bad shown himself to be a good navigator, he would be much sought after by captains. If the Government obliterated this grade of the service it would be the desire of every officer filling the duties of master to rise to the rank of admiral. The master, at present, had very important duties to perform. As the law and practice is now, he might rise to be master of the fleet, and with rank of Staff Commander. There were other advantages which followed from the great knowledge he gained in the public duties of the service. In the proposed scheme, of which their Lordships knew nothing at present, he presumed it was intended to place the masters on the lieutenants' list. If so, the already unfortunate list of 1,000 lieutenants would be inundated by the addition of move than 250 masters—some said 700. What would, then, be the lieutenant's prospect of promotion? At present he rose very slowly in the service. He presumed the masters would not be placed at the bottom of the lieutenants' list but would be inserted in it according to their rank in the service. Perhaps the noble Duke intended that the masters should die out; and that would be the wisest plan, giving them nominal rank and pay, and then cutting off the supply, and thus by degrees bringing the lieutenants into play to perform the duties of master. On the whole, however, he looked upon the proposed change as a very serious matter, and he did not see what the country would gain by it. He thought it to be his duty to bring the matter before the House, although on the present occasion he did not expect their Lordships to give any decided expression of their opinions.
§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, that before the proposed scheme was carried into effect it would be laid upon the table, and their Lordships would have further time to consider it. He agreed with the noble Earl that the question was one of great importance. There had been considerable dissatisfaction among the masters, who wish to rise in rank. While, however, they remained a class apart there was great difficulty. On the other hand, all young lieutenants were instructed, and many were highly skilled in navigation; and it had been thought by many officers of great judgment that you might have a set of lieutenants for navigation, as they had lieutenants who devoted themselves to gunnery, and that such a change would be most satisfactory to the service. The pro posed mode of dealing with the first and second masters would be seen when he laid the papers on the table; and there was no intention of carrying the change into effect until Parliament had had ample opportunity of considering the subject. Whatever was done, it was important that it should give satisfaction to the service, and that it should be generally regarded as an improvement.